Lic En Psicologia

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Police Service of Northern Ireland
The Challenges of Leadership in a Divided Society: A Problem-Solving Solution that Works! The Leadership Grid® Contribution to Policing in Northern Ireland by Professor James Drennan*
n November 1st 2001, the long-standing andhistorically well-known “Royal Ulster Constabulary” became the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Why? Well, in simple terms, to ensure that the predominantly protestant police service hired and maintained an equal proportion of Catholic members. This transition, as painful as it may have been to many members of the RUC both new and old, was viewed as essential to ensure a balance of religious background inall members of the police service. In addition, and without going into the detail of the many contentious issues such as the release of offenders from Northern Ireland prisons under the “Good Friday Peace Agreement” or the association to the Crown and Monarchy of England having been eliminated from all visible police icons, change was going to happen. Police buildings, uniforms, markings,policies, practices and structures, had changed within hours and along with that came the abandonment of many police traditions within the old RUC. The PSNI consists of about 13,000 police and civilian members policing throughout twenty-nine district commands in Northern Ireland.

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A History of Conflict The history of conflict in Northern Ireland, much of it historically directed at the police, hadcreated a culture of division and a tremendous challenge for the new police service, a challenge where a new vision of leadership change would be critical. Such leadership change would have to focus on behavioural issues rather than structural or process issues. When examining traditional approaches to organisational change models connected to a new leadership approach, and when attempting toensure that the focus of the new service would be more on behavioural changes rather than process changes, the “Leadership Grid®” by Blake and Mouton was the obvious best solution.

A Backdrop for Change in Policing Northern Ireland Many members of the service have struggled with the loss of their historic identity while others simply refused to accept what had happened. Some 303 police officerswere murdered on and off duty under the name of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. To support the transition, a master severance plan was launched in which several thousand members elected to retire. This retirement plan transition has had a both positive and negative impact on the police and the community of Northern Ireland. It is of one particular strategy of success that this article focuses on, andit is one which is a great lesson in leadership that should be considered by many police services making similar, yet albeit, less drastic transitions and change initiatives. It really is all about leadership and learning that can help with even the most significant transition in policing. It is also not about the differences between policing in Canada and Northern Ireland, but the similarities.To begin, we will have to accept that police core functions are the same in any democracy.

This is about how one leadership learning programme has provided hope and understanding to both police and community.
It is also an example of how police members can learn to accept that the integration of community and social services of all kinds can occur and problem solving approaches to policingwith the community, are essentially driven by our members’ competencies in

*Professor James Drennan is a police educator with Georgian College’s Justice and Public Safety Institute, Police Studies Degree Program in Ontario, Canada. He served under the International Oversight process and the Policing Board of Northern Ireland as Director of the Police College of Northern Ireland between May 2002...